Tuesday, August 12, 2008

So this is how the world ends, huh? With the world's remaining oil reserves being burned up at $100+ a barrel, the last great resources rush is on in the suddenly-navigable Arctic Sea. Gee, thanks global warming. The discovery of nearly 13% of the worlds untapped oil reserves under the newly liquefied Arctic ice shelf is apparently setting a new geopolitical struggle:

The dash to stake out territory across the Arctic has accelerated since Russia sent one of its submarines last August to plant the country's flag on the sea floor beneath the North Pole, provoking an outcry by other nations that viewed it as an unauthorized land grab.

And we all know how good our relations with Russia are right now. But, are our policy makers really this blind to the awful cycle we're locking ourselves into here? Burning oil releases carbon into the atmosphere which melts the ice caps, allowing us to discover more oil to burn at the bottom of the ocean, which creates more carbon...etc...etc...etc... This is pretty much akin to saying "Hey everyone, the house is on fire! Let's all smoke cigarettes right next to this leaky kerosene space heater!"

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